“There have been characterizations of public employees as the new fat cats or the new welfare queens,” Liu told WCBS 880 reporter Rich Lamb. “I think what this research provides is a more objective basis from which to formulate public policy going into the future.”

On retirement, Liu found that, “Pensions costs for most city employees, such as teachers, office workers, and the non-uniformed services, are roughly on par with what large corporations would give their employees in defined contribution plans.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg dismissed the report, saying, “I have no idea how the comptroller comes up with those numbers.” He also said it really has nothing to do with anything.